


a tune for those who wish to overlook

by orphan_account



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mention of other Batfamily characters, Violin Recital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 03:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20632277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One of Damian’s teachers had once told him that while Damian was technically perfect, he played without emotion.





	a tune for those who wish to overlook

It’s the day of his violin recital. Damian’s private teacher had forced him to sign up, claiming that it would be a “good experience.” He doesn’t really see the point of performing in front of a bunch of amateurs and their parents, but his teacher had been very insistent.

Damian waits for the person in front of him to finish. They’re playing a simple waltz, something Damian could have played better years ago. He taps his foot impatiently and adjusts his shoulder rest.

Finally, they are done. Damian walks onto the stage and sets his sheet music on the stand. Without any further ado, he puts his violin on his shoulder, lifts his bow, and starts playing.

It’s a piece Damian composed himself. He based part of the tune off what he remembers from Mother’s old lullabies. The ones she’d sang to him and Mara when Grandfather couldn’t hear. Yet another secret. The song starts soft, so Damian plays near the fingerboard.

He doesn’t really need to look at the sheet music. Instead, his gaze sweeps over the audience, focusing on a single row of chairs.

Damian had reserved those seats for his “family.” However, only Father and Pennyworth are sitting there. Grayson is still temporarily amnesiac (it is temporary, Damian refuses to believe otherwise.) Todd and Drake are who knows where. Thomas and Cain are off with their team. And Gordon and Brown are too busy to attend. So that leaves Father and Pennyworth to sit and watch Damian’s recital. 

He shifts up to fourth position, hitting the note precisely. One of Damian’s teachers had once told him that while Damian was technically perfect, he played without emotion. Damian had asked why it mattered. The teacher had simply responded that he would understand someday.

Damian wonders what became of that teacher. He’s probably dead and rotting at the ocean like so many others. The League didn’t believe in keeping people around after they fulfilled their duties.

There is a crescendo. Damian puts slightly more pressure on the string and leans into it. Until the escalating notes are all he can hear. He drops back down to mezzoforte, and looks at the audience again.

Father is standing up, looking at something on his phone. He puts it up to his ear and makes his way out of the room, a troubled expression on his face. 

Damian feels his bow waver for a second, but he doesn’t let it affect his playing. He focuses on his counting instead. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. 1-e and a 2-e and a. 

It’s not Father’s fault that he had to go, Damian tells himself. The man has more important things to attend to than a silly violin performance. Damian slows down the tempo, and drags the notes out.

He supposes he could have invited Mother. Damian’s relationship with her is… complicated, to say the least. But she probably would have come if Damian had asked. However, he hasn’t talked to her in a while. Damian doesn’t even know where in the world she is, or what she’s doing.

He wonders if she would have realized what his piece is about. Damian had composed it with a single theme in mind. Family.

Of course, it doesn’t matter now. Almost none of the people he wrote it for are even here to hear it.

Damian plays a section using loud, staccato bows. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Pennyworth has left as well. Probably off to assist Father with whatever he’s doing. Now Damian is all alone.

The next part is soulful and sad, but also hopeful. It was childish and immature, but Damian had foolishly wished that when his family heard it, they’d realize… something. And everything could go back to the way it should be.

Damian imagines that everyone is there. Grayson is recording the entire thing on his phone. Todd is pretending to be bored, but is actually listening intently. Drake is grudgingly appreciative of the music. Cain is dancing along. Thomas is tapping his fingers as a silent metronome. Gordon is swaying to the music. Brown is silently cheering Damian on. Pennyworth has a soft smile on his face. 

Mother is there too. Standing in the back, unnoticed by any of the others.

And Father….

Father is watching with a look of pride in his eyes. The type of pride Damian has often seen directed towards others, but rarely at him.

They are all together, and they are all happy.

Damian looks again at the empty row of chairs, and the illusion is shattered. 

The end of the song is supposed to be joyful. Damian plays every note and every rhythm correctly, but it still sounds hollow to his ears. Fake. Perhaps Damian still hasn’t learned to play with the correct emotions.

Damian puts his violin down. The audience starts clapping, but he barely notices. Damian walks off the stage without taking a bow. After all, there is no reason. His family isn’t here.

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my wips, but instead I decided to write 800 words about this. Also, I am a violist and it shows.


End file.
